Resolved – That,

(1) An open competitive tender process commences to secure the future supplier of the weed control service, for the period March 2024 to March 2026 be agreed;

(2) the Director of Neighbourhood Services be authorised to award the contract to the highest scoring tender within approved budget and in accordance with the Most Economically Advantageous Tender ‘MEAT’ criteria.

(3) a working group be established comprising of one Member from each political group, officers and relevant stakeholders to investigate the options in more detail.

The Council’s weed control service needs to be re-tendered due to the current

contract concluding this year with no option for extension. Awarding the contract through an open competitive tender exercise represents the most economically advantageous option and is fully compliant with the corporate procurement rules.

The Council does recognise the importance of reducing the use of Glyphosate and the need to identify alternative methods of weed control to assist with this reduction. It has also been recognised that a more responsive weed control

service is required to better meet the needs of residents and to take advantage of new technologies.

Over the past two years the Council has trialled several alternative weed control methods, which have been the subject of previous reports. Most recently the use of machinery to clear weeds from alleyways has been explored and the use of alternative chemicals, that have lower concentrations of Glyphosate, have also been investigated.

The intention moving forward is to develop an alternative approach to weed control. However, options do need to be discussed further and any additional

budget agreed. While agreement is sought for an alternative approach it is only prudent to ensure that a weed control service is provided.

Consideration has been given to tendering for a longer contract period for a weed control service of up to three years. This option is not being recommended as it is considered more appropriate to explore alternative methods of weed control. This would be difficult to implement through variations to a longer-term contract.

Providing an alternative approach to the weed control service from March 2024 was considered but not recommended. Further work is required to agree the preferred approach, secure any additional budget which might be required through the council’s budget setting process, and time will be required to implement the preferred approach.

The alternative approaches to weed control that have been considered are provided as an appendix to this report. Any alternative approach is likely to involve an additional budget commitment, that would need to be agreed as a part of the Councils budget setting process, and time would be required to implement the preferred approach.